Birdman: The Meta-cinematic Journey of Michael Keaton

By Scott Orris

When I first heard Michael Keaton had a leading role in a indie film, my immediate reaction was one of excitement and suspicion.  Growing up during the Batmania of the 1989 film, Michael Keaton was my hero.   I collected and still collect merchandise regarding this adaptation, and I was able to see one of the Batmobiles used in the filming of the movie.  This also revived the popularity of the 60’s TV show, which I also love, and in a promotional tour for the Burton film one of the 1966 Batmobiles used in the TV show, was being showcased in shopping malls which I actually was able to be inside as a kid. So needless to say this super hero had huge impact on my life, and Michael Keaton was Batman.  Or so I thought until I watched Alejandro Gonzalez Innarritu’s Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014).  Birdman is a meditation on the contrasting ideals of what it means to be a successful actor, commercial fame and fortune, or the artistic integrity of a serious stage actor.  The film is a meta-cinematic journey into the mind of Riggan Thompson (played by Keaton), who formerly starred in a series of films as the superhero Birdman.  This role while bringing him fame and recognition has also forever typecast him as a blockbuster superhero incapable of doing serious stage acting. 

Keaton as Batman in 1989

Living in the shadow of Birdman in the film.

Riggan attempts to escape this fate through putting on a serious Broadway play based on a Raymond Carver story in order to prove to him and the world he is capable of artistic stage work.  Riggan’s character and his relationship with Birdman obviously mirrors Keaton’s own celebrity status as being typecast as Batman, and how this applies to his own struggle to be taken seriously as a dramatic actor.  The fact that other actual superhero movies are mentioned such as Robert Downey in Iron Man (Favreau 2008), and the fact that Riggan last played Birdman in 1992, the very same year Batman Returns (Burton) was released further increase the meta-cinematic aspect.  The play within a film idea helps illuminate this by integrating the backstage drama into the play, thus creating a seamless narrative.  The film’s excellent score done by Antonio Sanchez, with tin creates the whirlwind chaos and anxiety of Riggan’s struggle to produce his play at all costs.  Keaton is truly brilliant in his performance creating the depth of the character’s internal conflicts and how they affected his personal life.  From the opening image of Riggan levitating in his dressing room to running through the streets of New York in his underwear, his vulnerability is constantly expressed throughout the film.  The rest of the cast is stellar in their performances with the likes of Edward Norton as the method stage actor Mike, Naomi Watts as Lesley an aspiring Broadway actress, and Emma Stone as Riggan’s daughter Sam who is a recovering drug addict.  The broken lives of these characters are all interwoven into Riggan’s life.  In the constantly rehearsed scene in the play Riggan’s character is walking in on Mike's character in bed with his wife in the play Naomi Watts.  While holding the gun to his head Riggan’s character pulls the trigger.  Without revealing spoilers for those of you who have not seen the film, this scene is very significant, one in which parallels his desire for the life of Ed Norton’s character Mike, the method stage actor who is critically acclaimed.  Keaton’s career post Beetlejuice (Burton, 1988) and Batman (Burton, 1989) while consistent in turning out great performances in various supporting roles, has been about trying to recapture the dignity of this past, in Birdman Michael Keaton like his counterpart Riggan Thompson has exceeded these expectations.

Works Cited:

"Batman." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

"Batman Returns." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

"Beetlejuice." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

"Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web 15 Apr. 2015.

"Iron Man." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web 15 Apr. 2015.